Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Supplied Medications

Key findings about health and population characteristics from the National Health Survey (NHS) and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

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Released
30/08/2022
Source
Health Conditions Prevalence, 2020-21

Key statistics

  • Two in three (63.4%) people were supplied with at least one PBS medication in the 6 months before or after NHS interview
  • Almost all (97.0%) people aged 75 years and over were supplied with a PBS medication
  • 80.4% of people with one or more selected chronic conditions were supplied PBS medications

This article includes findings about Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medications supplied to National Health Survey (NHS) 2020-21 survey participants in the 6 months before and after their NHS interview. The linked PBS and NHS 2020-21 data provides information on PBS medications supplied in the context of demographics, health risk factors, and selected chronic conditions. PBS statistics includes both PBS and Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) items.

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medications

The Australian Government subsidises the cost of many medicines for Australians through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). The PBS is regarded as a key component of the National Medicines Policy (NMP) which aims to improve positive health outcomes for all Australians through their access to and wise use of medicines[1].

The PBS does not include over-the-counter medications, private prescriptions, dietary supplements, or medications supplied to most public hospital in-patients. It should be noted that PBS data tells us when a medication is supplied but not whether the person took the medication.

Definitions

People with supplied medications

In the 6 months before or after their NHS interview, nearly two in three (63.4%) people were supplied with at least one PBS medication. In 2020-21:

  • Females were more likely to be supplied with medications than males (70.0% compared to 56.6%)
  • The supply of medication increased with age, from 43.0% of children aged 0-17 years to 97.0% of people aged 75 years and over
  • People with a disability were more likely to be supplied a medication than those with no disability (81.1% compared to 56.3%)
  • On average, adults aged 18 years and over had more types of medications supplied than children (4.2 compared to 1.9).

  1. Total includes 2.3% of NHS respondents who were not linked to a PBS record.

  2. Includes NHS respondents who were linked to a PBS record but who did not have a PBS medication supplied in the 6 months before and after the NHS interview.

The proportion of people who were not supplied with a medication declined sharply with age, from 54.1% of children aged 0-17 years to 7.6% of people aged 65-74 years and then 2.0% of people aged 75 years and over.

People with multiple supplied medications

Of those who were supplied with PBS medications, an average of 3.9 different medication types were supplied. In 2020-21:

  • Almost one in five (18.9%) people were supplied with five or more different medication types
  • Seven in ten (72.1%) people aged 75 years and over were supplied with five or more different medication types and on average were supplied with almost eight.
  1. Average was calculated using only those people who were supplied with a PBS medication.

In 2020-21, the characteristics of people who were supplied with multiple PBS medications were as follows:

  • One quarter (24.5%) of people living in inner regional Australia were supplied with five or more medication types, compared to 17.4% living in major cities
  • People living in areas of most disadvantage were more likely to be supplied with five or more medication types than people living in areas of least disadvantage (24.1% compared to 14.0%)
  • Adults who experienced bodily pain in the last four weeks had a higher average number of medication types than those who did not experience bodily pain (4.6 compared to 3.1).

Medication types being supplied

Almost a third (30.6%) of people were supplied with Antiinfectives for systemic use medication, making it the most common type supplied. Other commonly supplied medication types included:

  • Nervous system – 23.7%
  • Cardiovascular system – 22.7%
  • Alimentary tract and metabolism – 18.8%.

Females were six times more likely than males to be supplied with a Genito urinary system and sex hormones medication (15.0% compared to 2.5%), and more likely than males to be supplied with a Nervous system medication (28.2% compared to 19.2%).

Three quarters (74.7%) of people aged 65 years and over were supplied with a Cardiovascular system medication, compared to 6.2% of people aged 18-44 years.

Medications supplied for people with chronic conditions

Long-term health conditions are conditions which were current at the time of the survey interview and had lasted, or were expected to last, 6 months or more. Selected chronic conditions are a subset of long-term health conditions that are common, pose significant health problems, and have been a focus of ongoing public health surveillance[3].

In 2020-21, nearly half (46.6%) of people had one or more selected chronic conditions[4]. These people were more likely than those without a chronic condition to be supplied with a PBS medication (80.4% compared to 48.6%). The supply of medication to people with a chronic condition varied by condition type:

  • Heart, stroke and vascular disease – 97.2%
  • Osteoporosis – 96.1%
  • Kidney disease – 95.3%
  • Diabetes mellitus – 94.9%
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – 93.9%
  • Cancer – 93.5%
  • Arthritis – 90.1%
  • Asthma – 83.8%
  • Mental and behavioural conditions – 79.6%
  • Back problems – 77.5%.

The prevalence of selected chronic conditions was more common with age[4]. Many people with chronic conditions had more than one at the same time (multimorbidity)[5]:

  • Nine in ten (90.5%) people with two or more chronic conditions had a PBS medication and on average were supplied with 6.4 medication types
  • More than half (54.2%) of people with two or more chronic conditions were supplied with a Cardiovascular system type medication compared to 24.7% with one chronic condition.

As people age, they are more likely to have more than one condition at the same time and take multiple medications[6]. Although there is no standard definition, polypharmacy is often defined as the routine use of five or more medications at the same time[6]. It should be noted that PBS data cannot tell us whether multiple medications were routinely used or taken at the same time.

In 2020-21, seven in ten (69.7%) people with three or more selected chronic conditions were supplied with five or more medication types, compared to 42.5% of people with two chronic conditions and 20.4% of people with one. The supply of five or more medication types also varied by condition type – from 28.6% of people with Mental and behavioural conditions to 74.1% of those with Heart, stroke and vascular disease.

  1. This proportion has a high margin of error and should be used with caution.

Data downloads

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Supplied Medications

Data files
Download xlsx [151.28 KB]

Footnotes

  1. Australian Parliament House, ‘The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme: a quick guide’; accessed 03/08/2022.
  2. Department of Health and Aged Care, ‘PBS Browse by Body System’; accessed 03/08/2022.
  3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘Australia’s health 2020 data insights’; accessed 03/08/2022.
  4. Australian Bureau of Statistics, ’Health conditions prevalence’; accessed 03/08/2022.
  5. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘Chronic conditions and multimorbidity’; accessed 03/08/2022.
  6. World Health Organization, ‘Medication safety in polypharmacy: technical report’; accessed 03/08/2022.

Post release changes

02/06/2023 - This release contains:

Previously published information referring to people supplied with Safety Net medications has been removed due to a reference period limitation within the dataset. This includes removing tables 3.1 to 3.4 in the Data downloads.

Methodology

National Health Survey: First Results methodology